The Beginning of Something More
by beccagrib
Summary: Evan wants to go camping for his birthday. Planning for disaster is Evan's specialty but will the simple walk to the car prove more than the brothers can handle?


"Come on Hank! Time to get up," Evan shouted as he jumped on Hank's bed.

"Go away Evan! We have plenty of time," replied Hank groggily.

"That would be incorrect Henry. The camp site is three hours away and we need to set up camp before it gets dark. Wouldn't want to stumble off a ravine now, would you?"

"If it means I can sleep longer than yes, yes I would."

"Come on Hank. Don't make me get the water bucket again."

"Don't even think about it Evan."

"Fine, no water. But you leave me no choice." Evan replied as he began singing, aka screaming, "A camping we will go! A camping we will go! Hi ho the Derry-o! A camping we will go!"

Hank growled at him, and pulled the blanket over his head to muffle his brother's childish singing.

"Shall I continue?"

"Only if you want itching powder in your sleeping bag tonight," replied Hank annoyed.

"Oh come on Hank. You really need to get up … I made breakfast."

"Fine. Give me a minute so I can take a shower and pack my bag."

"What? I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? You haven't packed your bag yet?" asked Evan, astonished.

"Calm down Evan, it will only take a minute."

"That's not the point Henry. You need to take time to pack correctly. You wouldn't want to forget anything important like … I don't know ... food!"

"Well lucky for me, you packed that already. Just calm down and go eat. I'll be there in a minute."

"Fine Henry, but when you forget your underwear, don't come crying to me," Evan shouted from the hallway, as he made his way to the kitchen.

Hank groaned and threw his legs out of bed, already regretting having agreed to go camping. It was Evan's birthday on Saturday and all he asked for was a weekend long camping trip with just the two of them. However, when Hank agreed he didn't realize it would entail a 10 mile hike into the wilderness with 40 pound backpacks and no flushable toilets. Regardless, he knew how excited his brother was, so he dragged himself out of bed and into the hot steaming shower.

Evan waited downstairs impatiently. He quickly shoveled food down his throat and cleaned up the kitchen, minus the plate full of food that he left sitting on the table for his brother. He was dressed head to toe in camping gear. A baseball cap covered his head, a compass and whistle dangled from his neck, his cargo pants pockets were packed tight with numerous supplies he had felt necessary to keep handy, and a waterproof fanny pack was strapped around his waist containing a map, phone, lighter, pocket knife, flashlight, and mini first aid kit.

Evan was sitting at the counter going over his list one more time when Hank finally appeared in the kitchen with a small bag of clothes and toiletries. "Is that all your bringing?" asked Evan.

"Yes Evan."

"Well in that case, I'll attach the tent to your bag, mine is already 10 lbs. heavier than I had planned. You did bring boxers right? Because you won't be borrowing mine."

"Yes Evan," Hank responded, as he sat down to eat.

"Good, I'm going to put everything in the car then. Divya and Jeramiah will take care of everything until Tuesday."

Hank gasped, "Tuesday?"

"Yeah, well I figured it would be better to plan for a few extra days just in case things don't go as intended. I mean, what if there is a storm and we have to stay in the tent all day and we don't get to do anything fun?"

Hank glared at Evan. "I agreed to a weekend Evan. I don't appreciate you taking advantage and making plans behind my back."

Evan frowned, looking hurt. "I'm sorry. I just thought you would like to stay longer. We can come back Sunday if you want."

Hank was shocked to see the hurt in Evan's eyes. "He really thinks I'm going to enjoy myself," Hank thought. Hank sighed and walked over to his brother, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "No Evan, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It is your birthday and I want you to enjoy it. We can stay until Tuesday."

Evan instantly perked up. "Great, you're the best Hank," he replied smiling. "Just throw your dish in the sink when you're done, and I'll be waiting in the car programming the GPS."

"Ok. I'm going to need to pack more clothes though, for the extra days."

"No need Hank, I packed laundry detergent. We can wash clothes and air dry them on this rope," explained Evan as he raised his arm presenting two para-cord bracelets.

"Yeah but do we have enough water for that?"

"Well, we each have a 2 liter water bladder built into our bags. "See? The straw sticks out here, so we can drink while we walk. Then, once we reach our campsite we can drink the stream water."

Hank stared at Evan dumbfounded. "We can't just drink water from a random stream. There could be bacteria, and parasites such as salmonella, , giardia, and that's just a few. Do you want to get sick and die on your birthday?"

"But you underestimate me Hank. I also packed two Lifestraws. They can filter out 99.9999 percent waterborne bacteria, and 99.9 percent protozoa, according to the website. We don't even need to boil the water or treat it with iodine.

"Wow, you really thought this through. Okay, I'm done with the questions … I trust you. Let's get going," said Hank as he swallowed his last bite of food and threw his dish in the sink.

"I have been waiting my whole life to hear that Hank," Evan joked. "Onward," he said as he grabbed one of the backpacks and carried it outside. Hank followed with another bag and locked the door behind him.

"I'm driving," said Evan after Hank threw his bag in the back.

Hank looked at him, rolled his eyes, and climbed into the passenger seat.

Evan excitedly slammed the trunk shut and ran towards the driver side. In his rush, his foot slipped on the gravel and he came down hard on his knee. "Damn it!" he shouted.

Hank saw what happened through the window and he rushed to Evan's side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a look of concern plastered to his face.

"Yeah, I just scraped my knee."

"Let me see," said Hank.

Evan removed his hands from his knee, revealing his bloody torn up skin.

"It doesn't look too bad, but I'll need to irrigate it. You have some pebbles and debris stuck in there. Just stay put for a second. I'll be right back."

"Okay," replied Evan.

Hank unlocked the door and ran back inside. He grabbed a plastic sandwich baggy, filled it with water and sealed it shut. Then he grabbed a pair of scissors, tweezers, antibiotic cream and a large bandage. Hank returned to his injured brother and sat down beside him.

"Okay, lean your knee to the side so water doesn't get on your shoes."

Evan did as he was told and Hank prepared the bag of water by cutting a small hole in one corner. Next he squeezed water out of the hole, rinsing the debris out of the wound.

"Ow, that burns," complained Evan.

"Sorry, but it's better than leaving this stuff in and getting an infection," Hank replied.

Hank used the whole bag of water to rinse his knee but one pebble still remained embedded in Evan's skin. "You won't like this Evan, but I'm going to have to get this pebble out with tweezers."

"Oh no, that is not happening. Don't even think about it," he shouted, quickly pulling his knee away and backing away from Hank.

"Okay fine. You can leave the pebble in and get an infection, but not while we are camping. You let me take it out, or we won't go on the trip."

Evan honestly thought about it for a second but couldn't give up his intricately planned mini vacation.

"Fine," he said, as he slowly pushed his knee back towards Hank.

"I can't believe you even contemplated that," mocked Hank, as he took out the tweezers.

"You know I don't like being poked and prodded," Evan whispered as his face turned white.

Hank looked up at him concerned. "It's okay Evan. It will only hurt for a second."

"K, he whispered as he tightly shut his eyes.

Hank stopped what he was doing and grabbed his neck pillow from the front seat of the car.

"Here Evan, lay down on this pillow. You look like you are about to pass out," Hank said as he gently guided his brother to the ground.

"Thanks," he responded quietly.

Hank sighed and knelt down by Evan's knee. He thought the situation was funny, but felt bad that his brother was so frightened. Hank picked up the tweezers once more, gently grasped the pebble and pulled it out steadily. His brother didn't even flinch. Without telling Evan, Hank took the scissors and cut off a flap of dead skin that covered part of the scrape. Then he took his gloved hand and smeared antibiotic ointment over his brother's knee and applied the bandage.

"All done Evan," Hank said as he cleaned up the mess. "Here, I'll help you up," he said as he offered him his hand.

Hank stood, hand extended waiting for a response. Evan didn't move. Hank shouted, "Evan!"

There was still no response. Hank quickly returned to his brother's side and gently rubbed against his sternum while shouting at him to wake up.

Evan stirred, returning to consciousness.

"You scared me for a second there Ev. Do you want some water?"

"Are you done?" asked Evan weakly.

"Yes Evan, I've been done. Just lay there for a second while I go throw this away and grab you a bottle of water and some ibuprofen."

Evan nodded and closed his eyes again, fighting nausea. He never could handle things like this and he had passed out from pure anticipation, every time his brother forced him to get his vaccines. This time Evan was more embarrassed than usual because even little kids could handle tweezers. "My fear must be getting worse," he thought.

Hank returned and handed him some water. "Are you okay to sit up?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, just sit up slowly," Hank suggested, as he helped his brother up.

"Still OK?" he asked.

"I'm good," responded Evan as he took a sip of water.

"Good. Here take these," he said as he handed Evan two ibuprofen. "It will keep your knee from swelling and it will help with the pain. It looked like you landed on it pretty hard."

"Thank you Hank," he said as he took the pills.

"Do you think you can stand up or do you need a minute?"

"Yep, I'm ready to go," he responded, reaching for a helping hand.

"Okay," said Hank, pulling his brother up.

Evan stood for a second, closed his eyes and started to collapse back to the ground.

"Whoa, I've got you," Hank said holding him steady. "I hate to break it to you but you can't drive like this," he said, as he led him to the passenger seat.

"No I'm fine Hank, I can drive."

"No bud. How about I drive for an hour and you can drive the last two hours. Sound fair?"

Okay, fine," said Evan as he reclined his chair and closed his eyes.

Hank closed Evans door and walked around to the driver's side. Once in his seat he glanced at his brother's pale figure and silently chuckled to himself. He sympathized with his brother but never could understand Evan's anxieties. Hank buckled his seat belt, shifted the gear and drove off down Boris's everlasting driveway, one step closer to the vacation that was sure to turn out disastrously.

I am sorry that this story is ending here. There is a slight possibility that I will write more of this story once school lets out in the summer but don't hold me to it. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. That said, if anyone wants to write a continuation of this story, feel free. I would love to read it (send me a link and I can post it here).


End file.
